Time Stands Still
by Mountain King
Summary: Set just before TFA. The Doctor finds himself on Jakku and Rey finds a stranger fiddling with her speeder.
1. Prologue

Time Stands Still

Authors Introduction:-  
For christmas I got the new Lego Doctor Who set. It lives with my other Lego sets in the display cabinet. Naturally this was inevitable.

Disclaimer:-  
I own non of the characters used here. This is just a little idea that needs to be written.

* * *

With a loud sigh the Doctor lowered the switch and the central column ground to a halt. The TARDIS had landed. 'Right then old girl, lets see where we are this time.' He said for what felt like the hundredth time.

After leaving River by the singing towers he'd set out once again, using the old randomiser he'd installed centuries ago to pick his destination. He'd done it to avoid the Black Guardian and it had been useful since then. Any time he'd wanted get lost, hide, or just run away he'd throw the switch and let fate, and the tides of the Time Space Vortex, decide.

Right now though he had another reason. Clara. He knew it was for the best that his memories of his companion had to be erased. The problem was it had taken a little more than just her face. Most notably the time-space co-ordiantes of Gallifrey! He knew it was safe, somewhat, and what he had done there. He just couldn't recall where in all and Time and Space his home was.

Because he hadn't used his beloved TARDIS to get there he couldn't just check the logs. For all he knew it could still be in a pocket dimension just off the belt of Orion, or hidden inside a single grain of sand on some far flung beach in the Pegasus Galaxy or wherever.

Smiling sadly to himself The Doctor opened his TARDIS door and was blasted with a horrible dry heat. Stepping outside he closed his eyes. For a moment, just for a moment he let himself imagine he'd made it. That he was home, in the Dry Lands of his world once again. Under that burnt orange sky, beneath the shadow of the great citadel that was the Capitol. He could picture it, that the old barn was just over the hill, down the twisting path he'd played on as a child oh so many centuries ago.

Opening his eyes he buried the all to familiar disappointment. No, the sky was blue and the sand was wrong. Still it told him something. He might not know exactly where he was but he could make a few predictions. It was a desert world, either through calamity or disaster. There was enough air to breath and while it was hot it was a dry heat. Meaning a lack of moisture more than anything else.

Looking around added to the list growing in his head. The sand was gathered in dunes. Some massive, others quite small. The sky was clear and bright, but there was a haze from dust, kicked up by wind and some machinery. There was a settlement in the distance and what looked to be mountains further to the east.

It took him a moment to recognise something else. Machinery, pollutants and the smell of rust. More than that there was metals, traces he could taste in the air. Dense elements used in large scale ship construction. Looking again he could see light glinting of many of the dunes. It was a scrap yard, a dumping ground for ships of all sizes. Most of them massive vessels, hundreds of meters long buried in the shifting sand.

Turing around gave him conformation. He was at the base of a dune, sticking out of the top was one of these immense ships. Either the pilot had desperately needed to re-read the manual about landing or it had crashed. A ship like the one he was looking up at wouldn't crash for no reason. The Doctor put on his sunglasses and scanned it.

This was no scrap yard, it was a battlefield. Decades old, with ships of all kinds lost. The Doctor felt like a kid in a toy store! It had been centuries since he'd had a chance to explore a battlefield, especially one as huge and interesting as this one. But before he could scramble up the the sand his glasses bleeped and drew his attention to something just off to one side.

A working air-car.

This was better than a battlefield, scavengers!

Heading over to it he got a better look and decided that Air-car was stretching it. The vehicle was crude, it looked like one of his inventions, thrown together from whatever he could find to do the job. A huge front section to power two small thrusters under the pilots seat. Cargo netting and a few brackets were fixed to the rust orange prow, but the Doctor was more interested in the fact it was hovering.

Even in standby it looked like whatever anti-gravity it was using was active. He was just about to lean in to get a better look when suddenly his feet were swept out form under him. He landed on his back only to be pressed there by a staff. Cursing himself for his inattention he saw the staff was being held by a young woman, dressed as you would expect for a desert dweller. Including wrapping her face in cloth and some sort of tinted visor over her eyes. 'Oh thank you! I get a much better angle from down here.' He said smiling as he pointed to the floating engine. 'And I think you did wonders for my back too!'

'Who are you? What are you doing?' She snapped, not one for sarcasm or witty replies. If anything she sounded scared.

'Don't worry. I'm not supposed to be here either.'

She pressed harder 'This is my spread! Are you here to steal from me? Did Plutt send you? I don't owe him anything anymore!'

'No. No one sent me. I'm just passing through and this anti-gravity array caught my interest.' He told her, keeping his hands up and away from the staff. 'It looks like it uses some sort of magnetic-gravity repulsion to achieve lift. It's been a long time since I saw something like that.'

She didn't seem convinced, but stepped back. 'I'm the Doctor.' he told her standing up and brushing the sand off. 'Hello.'

Keeping the staff between them she said. 'Rey, I'm Rey.'

'Nice to meet you.' He said giving her his best, non threatening smile. He watched as she backed away. Only to pick up a pile of scrap she'd obviously collected. One hand on he staff, the other dragging the pile she, went around him. The Doctor was reminded of Leela, right down to the satchel bag on her hip. Volatile, defensive and a lot smarter than she knew. 'You couldn't tell me where I am?'

'Scrap field, of the planet Jakku.' she said shortly. 'How, how could you not know?'

'Well that's a long story.' he began, taking a step. Only to see her back on the defensive. 'Short version; I'm a traveller. I go from there to here, often not knowing where I end up. It's fun.'

Taking off the visor and mask revealed what he expected, a freckle faced young human with brown hair. 'You have a ship near?' she asked.

'Well, it's like a ship. Yes.' he admitted, keeping the TARDIS in the corner of his eye.

She gave a quick laugh. 'Good luck, it's probably been striped clean by now.'

'No, I'm sure it's safe.'

'Yeah, well Niima Outpost is that way.' She pointed to the distant settlement. 'It's the nearest place. If you need something it's probably there. In case you're wrong.'

'Thank you Rey.' he offered another smile. She was probably right. After all he didn't know exactly where he was or what might happen if he did leave his TARDIS un-protected. Oh it should be safe but he'd learnt that when facing the unknown even a Time Lord should take precautions.

'Do… do you really travel?' she said, there was a note of longing in her voice.

'Everywhere.' he said honestly. He still remembered that need. It was what kept him going, even now. 'You could come with me.' He offered without thinking. 'Anywhere and everywhere!'

Her eyes lit up, like those of a dreamer told it was about to come true before turing away. 'I… I can't. I'm waiting for someone. They'll be back for me. I'm sure they'll come back and I need to be here. I'm always here.'

The Doctor could hear the disappointment in her voice and for a terrible moment he remembered the promise made to Susan. 'I'm sure you're right. Well I wish you the best.' With that he headed back to the TARDIS.

Just before opening the door though, he had an idea. 'What if?' He spun and gave her the best grin he could. 'What if I said I had a time machine and that you could be back before you left?'

End Time Stands Still

Authors note:-

New companion anybody?


	2. Part I:- Impossibilities

Time Stands Still  
Part I  
Impossibilities

Rey looked at the strange man. 'Time Travel?' she asked carefully.

'Time travel.' he gave her another one of those smiles that looked just wrong on his old face. He didn't look like he belonged on Jakku. It didn't look like he belonged anywhere. His dark red over coat and bright white shirt were completely wrong for the desert world. On anyone else they would be sweating under the heat, he wasn't.

Rey frowned, there was something more about this. About the whole thing. She couldn't begin to explain what, but her instincts were telling her this strange Doctor was more than he appeared. 'Time travel's not possible.' she told him.

'I like to think of at least six impossible things before breakfast.' He smirked. 'If I can prove one impossibility would you believe another?'

She didn't know what he was getting at and said so.

'This is my ship.' he told her proudly, standing next to the big blue box she had noticed earlier. She was curious, because she could have sworn it wasn't there earlier, but when she saw him by her Speeder she had other priorities. 'It's called the TARDIS and it can travel anywhere in Space or Time.'

'It's a blue box.' She pointed out. Even as she said it she knew she was wrong. There was something more to it but she didn't know what. Or how she knew that. Just that she did.

The Doctor looked at her 'Only from the outside.' With that he opened the doors and Rey jumped back. Inside was a large round room, lined with a gallery of books, statues and large boards. In the middle there was what looked like some form of generator. Careful for some sort of trick Rey walked around the box. It seemed to be just as big as she first thought.

She looked again at the inside, 'Hologram?' she asked, unsure. She'd never seen a hologram so realistic.

Another wrong smile and he stepped inside. Either there was some very clever slicer manipulating the image, or it wasn't a hologram. Almost scared of the answer she followed. Only half expecting to step through the projection.

She didn't. Instead it was just as it appeared. Bigger inside than outside. A lot bigger. More than that, Rey had spent her life crawling on the inside of ships. She'd learnt what all the different bits of tech were, what they did and more importantly how much they were worth.

The technology inside was like nothing she'd seen before. Some of it looked ancient, the rest so far advanced she couldn't imagine what it did. 'How?' she asked breathlessly, looking up at the top of the central column.

'You wouldn't understand. It's far beyond you.' He dismissed her question. 'Now, time travel! Where would you like to go?' Flicking a switch on the column the door swung shut behind her.

'What? Wait!' Rey reached for the strange man, but he pulled a leaver and everything went crazy. First the column in the middle began to move, it sounded like a great machine grinding into life. Rey could feel the energies flowing out and being channelled back into the engines.

'One trip. My treat.' He offered. 'Where would you like? Exiting, relaxing? A party, or something wonderful?'

Before she could answer the whole room leapt to the right. 'What was…?' she asked as the impossible ship lurched again.

'Something's wrong!' The Doctor shouted, manipulating the controls as she held on to the railings. 'I've got no control!' the room span and Rey was thrown from the railing.

'What are you doing?' she screamed, already regretting following the stranger.

'It's not me.' he insisted, swinging a monitor around. 'It's the Time Vortex, we're caught in a temporal wake. A down stream in time.'

'What?' Rey asked again, her head spinning. Something was wrong. Very wrong. 'What's happ… happen…'

'Pudding brained primitive! I might as well be trying to explain quantum mechanics to a chimpanzee!' He growled. 'Alright; we're trapped in storm. Makes more sense? Good. Even if a temporal wake is nothing like one.'

'I can't…' She began when something hit her. It was like her mind had been closed before. Suddenly it had been forced open and the entire universe poured in. Trapped in a whirlwind of thoughts and ideas that weren't hers Rey was lost in the chaos of sights sounds and feelings.

The Doctor standing before an army of nightmares and the nightmares ran from him. The sky was on fire, great red streaks flying across space. A space station exploding. Droids, or what looked like droids, screaming exterminate amongst the ruins of a dead city. A war beyond scope. The sands of Jakku red with spilt blood while the sky was full of fighters and Star Destroyers. A girl, blonde hair, running from a monster. No, towards it, a sword in her hand.

A dark dead world, ravaged with storms, a castle on the hill A forest full of life, high above it a shower of debris from space. Beneath the castle, a giant hand reaches for the sky. The forest, a body burning. Evil dying and evil being reborn. The Doctor, his face changing, young and old. Herself, a glowing sword in her hand. A man on a cliff, his bearded face in shadows of old regret.

The same blonde girl on a strange world, laughing with her friends. A star going dark, it's life drained into a planet. Men in strange robes with high collars commanding a ship built for one purpose she couldn't begin to describe. A world destroyed as a Princess watches helplessly. A great glass globe on the top of a mountain inside a civilisation as old as time. Her father leaving her on Jakuu. A graveyard full of statues.

All the while a bell ringing in the distance.

Rey tried to make sense of it all. Tried to understand what it was she was seeing, feeling, even tasting but it was too much. Eventually the near constant stream of disjointed imagery just overwhelmed her. The last thing the young scavenger heard was the Doctor's voice, warning that they were about to land.

* * *

It was night and the moon was high in the sky. The Graveyard was as quite as it ever was in this town, which was to say not very quiet at all. 'Oh come on. Rise and shine. I've got homework to finish and if I don't get a near perfect score I'm going to be in so much trouble.'

'I wouldn't worry about that little girl.' a hungry voice came from behind her.

Rolling her eyes the girl sighed. 'Really? Let me guess new in town?'

The man, who looked like he lost what fashion sense he had at least a decade before, stepped out of the shadows and gave her a look that made her want to take a shower. 'Why it so happens I am. Are you the welcome party?'

'So not.' she told him. 'Look, it's been a long night and like I was saying I have other things to do. Can we get this over with quickly?'

He didn't seem to notice that she wasn't scared, instead he just seemed more and more confidant. 'Awe sweetness, where's the fun in doing things quickly?'

'Ugh. you really trying to come on to me?' she mock shuddered. 'You really have no idea do you.'

He laughed 'Let me guess, self defence classes. That's cool, but there are scarier things than muggers in graveyards.' His face morphed. Forehead bulging and teeth growing long and pointed. 'Feel free to scream. It won't do much good, but I might like it.'

The girl gave a mock yawn. 'Oh look a Vampire! What would little old me ever do.' she raised her hands in surrender, showing of her current favourite stake that up until now had been stashed up her sleeve. 'oops, guess it was lucky I had this old thing.'

The vampires face went white, which was quite an accomplishment for an undead creature without a blood supply. 'You? you're…'

'Yep.' she offered a smile. 'I think this is the part where you run away. Oh and screaming, not very manly.' But before he could turn and run there was a strange noise coming from all around them.

It sounded like machinery, or great lumps of metal screeching against each other. Out of nowhere a sudden wind picked up, it was so strong it nearly picked her up off the ground. Discarded newspapers and trash suddenly filled the cemetery, blowing like confetti all over the place. Feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end she dove for the ground. just in time for a sudden ball of lightning to crack into life above her head.

From out of the lightning came a seven foot tall blue box. It flew out like it had been shot out of a cannon, spinning out of control. It bounced off a tree, smashed through a grave stone and rolled over the top of a mausoleum.

Jumping to one side it barely missed her again as it bounced into the Vampire, that was instantly dusted as a corner of the wooden box went straight through it's chest.

Eventually, mercifully, the box came to a stop. Creaking sightly as it rocked back on it's base and the wind died down. The was steam rising from the sides and the light on top glowed slowly.

It took nearly a full minute for her to stand up. When she had, and checked that she hadn't been hit anywhere she looked around. There was no one else. 'I thought I'd seen everything.' she whispered to herself. 'Okay, the guy's are not going to believe this.' Keeping one eye in the sky, incase another wooden box decided to fall from the sky she decided to get a better look.

Only to have something grab her ankle. It was the Vampire she'd been waiting for, she was standing on it's grave and a claw like hand had punched through the soft dirt. 'Oh, you have got to be…' Buffy started before having her leg pulled out from under her with a yelp.

* * *

The Doctor tried the controls again. The Time Rotor tried to move but gave up with a deafening clang and the TARDIS almost seemed to sigh. Behind him a fireball erupted as the energy had to go somewhere. 'What is wrong with you?' he asked, pumping the helmlic regulator to put out the fire. Spinning the screen around to face him again the Doctor tried to bring up the location. He got nothing.

The TARDIS's guidance system had been totally scrambled by the temporal wake. They had been caught in the rapids of time, churned up and tossed about by the strong undercurrents and spat out here. Even if the TARDIS could launch the engines were too damaged from fighting the current. Ironically they'd need time to cool down and repair.

That meant, for all intents an purposes they were trapped here, wherever here was. Turing to shout at the human he'd stupidly offered to give an adventure to the Doctor stopped. She was unconscious. 'Typical.' he grunted before stopping.

There was no reason for her to be unconscious.

He dashed over to her, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and running quick scan. Nothing, no head injury and no evidence that she was a Time Lord in disguise. Something had to have pulled them off course, had caused the Time Vortex itself to buckle like a sea in the middle of a storm. There was no evidence that she was a trick or a trap. Just human.

He didn't trust just human. Picking her up, noticing that she was too thin to weigh very much at all, he carried her to the base of the console. There he dug into one of the storage chests left there from his previous regeneration. Inside was what he was looking for. A spare chameleon arch headset. Hooking it into the bottom of the column he fitted the arch on his new friend.

'Wha?' she asked coming around.

'I'm trying to find out. Now sit still, this shouldn't hurt.' He said activating the device with a buzz. Rey shouted in surprise and pain. 'I lied, now don't move that.'

'What is it?' she asked again.

The Doctor went back to his chest, 'A scanner. It's going to find out why we were blown off course.'

'You think it was something to do with me?'

'One thing is new inside the TARDIS. Guess what that is.'

She rubbed her eyes before gently probing the edges of the Arch. 'I think I hit my head. I had the strangest dream.'

'Your head is fine.' He told her, pulling out the old monitor he had in the previous version of the Control room. With his screwdriver he attached it to the trailing cables and switched it on. 'Nothing.'

'You were there, we were running from something. Or too. It was so confusing.'

'Nothing. Not in your bloodstream, not in your cellular…' He trailed off. There was something. 'Stupid, stupid Doctor.' he swore. 'I should have know. Should have guessed. Stupid, stupid old man.' He should have guessed, should have seen it. He never thought a girl scrambling about in some forgotten battlefield would be like this.

'What's wrong?' she asked.

'I'm an idiot, an old fool that should looked before he invited some stranger into his TARDIS. No wonder we went off course. We could be anywhere, anywhere and I deserve it. Stupid old man.'

Rey took a deep breath. 'I think I've been very calm, but you need to tell me. What is going on?'

The Doctor looked at her for a long moment and almost felt sorry for her. She had no idea. Not of who she was or what she represented. As he tried to think of a way to explain so that she could begin to understand there was a loud knock from above and the doors opened.

'Hello? I was passing by and you kinda crashed. Is anyone hurt?' A young woman's voice called out 'Oh wow, it's bigger on the inside!'

The Doctor groaned, he recognised the accent. Of all the places to crash his TARDIS and get stranded. California.

End Part I


	3. Part II:- Confluence

Time Stands Still  
Part II  
Confluence

Buffy looked around the room. She felt like she'd just stepped on the set of a Star Trek movie, all flashing lights and a big glowing thing in the middle. Then it got really weird. Surrounding the room was a raised floor that was full of bookcases and blackboards. 'Giles would love this place.' she said to herself.

'Well they're not invited, and neither are you!' A man swung up from a level under the big console. He had grey hair, a narrow face and massive eyebrows. From his voice he wasn't American, but he wasn't English either.

Buffy decided to at least try to be friendly. 'Hi. You crashed.' She repeated.

'I know that.' he snapped. 'I also know why we crashed and you don't.'

'Look I don't know what kind of warlock or wizard you are, but when you nearly take my head off and I try to help you can at least say your sorry. You almost killed me!'

'The TARDIS could never have killed you. The shields would have identified you as a person and protected you. ' He told her flicking controls before jabbing a finger at the glowing thing. 'And I'm not a warlock. This is science not magic.' He looked up, his eyebrows narrowing 'Who are you?'

'I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.'

He snorted. 'Vampire Slayer. That must keep you busy.'

'Because Vampires aren't real.' She almost sang, it was one thing to risk your life fighting demons and the forces of darkness. It was another not to have anyone believe you. 'Says the man in a magic clown car box thing.'

'It's called a TARDIS.' he sighed. 'Of course Vampires are real. It's just that I killed the last one myself, centuries ago.'

That was a surprise. 'Well I guess you missed a few.' She told him

'They're not that easy to miss.' he said from between clenched teeth.

Buffy threw her arms up 'Well I don't know what to tell you. I kill about a dozen a week. Sometimes more.'

That seemed to get his attention. 'A dozen? Vampires?' He looked her up and down. Not in a creepy way, but like she was being examined right down to her toenails. 'We are talking Vampires, giant bat like creatures from the Dark Times that drain whole planets of their life energy?'

She blinked at that. 'No.' she said, unsure. 'Undead guys. No soul, really bad at tanning. Go all dusty when you stake them. Vampires.'

The wizard laughed. 'The Slave race. You see Ray… Rey?' he looked around before barging past Buffy outside. She followed him to see him by a young woman, not that much older than herself.

She was dressed in weird clothes, not quite rags but still there was no way she was local. For some reason she was carrying a big quarterstaff that looked like half burnt metal but right now she was looking up at the stars in awe. 'We really have moved!' she said breathlessly. 'I don't recognise the stars. Not one.'

The strange man grinned 'We're on the other side of the universe. Another galaxy entirely. I'm not sure why here exactly but that's not important. Rey, you are so much more than even you know. Because I'm an idiot I've put not only you but your entire future at risk!'

'Who are you?' Buffy asked. They weren't making much sense, but she got the feeling that he had been telling the truth with the science not magic thing.

'I'm the Doctor and this is my new friend Rey.'

'Nice to meet you, I'm Buffy. What was that about Galaxies?'

Rey had her staff slung over her shoulder with a strap. It was a cool trick Buffy was going to have to borrow 'We're from another galaxy.' She said helpfully. Even though she sounded English there was something about the way she said it. She didn't sound like she was lying, or crazy.

'So you're not human?'Buffy asked carefully

'I'm not, she is.' The so called Doctor said helpfully. 'Humans, you spread across the galaxies like rumours and bad news. You're everywhere.'

'If your not human, what are you?' Buffy asked, checking to make sure she still had a stake if she needed it.

'I'm a Time Lord. We were the ones that fought in the great Vampire Wars. The Slave Race you hunt are just the leftovers, the degenerate offspring of one of the greatest threats to ever exist.' He turned to Rey. 'You see a very long time ago, at the twilight of the Dark Times, they came. The Star Vampires. They laid waste to the early empires, drove many of the Old Ones into hiding, killed the rest. My people stood against them. The war was a thing of legend, one of the biggest in history. Before history even began.'

Buffy shared a look with Rey, who didn't look like she any idea what he was talking about. 'Vampires, you've never heard of them?'

'No.' she shook her head and the Doctor sighed.

'Basically the Slave Race are haemovores. They feed of the blood of the living. Killing people in the process.'

'You could have just said that earlier.' Rey pointed out.

Buffy shrugged. 'Could you get a word in edgeways?' but as she looked to see how the self confessed alien took her joke it was obvious he wasn't listening. 'Doctor?'

'We are all in a great deal of trouble.' he said, his pale face going a shade or two lighter.

'These Star Vampire things?'

'No. Older. Stranger.' he said darkly. 'Over there.'

Buffy looked where he was pointing. 'What behind the statue?'

'No the statue. This is your home, have you ever seen one of those before?'

Buffy tired to think. 'No, wait.' She remembered something. 'Earlier tonight I thought I saw something move, but it was just a statue like that one. On the other side of the cemetery.'

'Could be the same one. They move when you don't see them.'

'What move?'

'Weeping Angels.'

* * *

Rey was actually enjoying herself. A unknown new world with people on it. On Jakku even the nights were hot, here was cool and while it was strange to be surrounded by short stones she was still comfortable.

The story the Doctor told didn't make much sense, then again neither did traveling through time and space in a wooden box larger on the inside. Right now though she was more interested in what had scared the Doctor.

It looked like a stone person. Or at least the likeness of one carved out of grey stone. They looked like a woman, her face covered by her hands, but on her back were a pair of wings. The statue, as he and Buffy called it, looked like it belonged there. Amongst the stones and other ones in the distance. It didn't though, it didn't look like the others and there was something undeniably wrong about it.

Getting a cold feeling that she wasn't alone Rey turned to the box they had traveled in. There a second statue had appeared. She looked at it and pulled her staff off her shoulder. 'Doctor! There's another one!' This one's face wasn't covered it was looking at them, the ghost of a smile on the perfectly carved lips.

'What where?' Buffy asked. 'That wasn't there before!'

'I told you they move, but not when you see it. Keep looking at it. If you blink it moves and kills us all.' He said urgently.

'You're joking.'

'Do I sound like I'm joking. This is a disaster, we need to get back into the TARDIS. Now!'

'We can't, it's standing in the way.' Rey told him. Now she was looking at it carefully she could feel how wrong the angel really was. How much it didn't belong. She could almost feel the sense of need, the hunger it felt. The sick anticipation practically rolled off it like smoke. It wasn't just that it had to kill, it wanted to. Then she felt something else. 'Doctor, I think… I think there's more of them.'

'Where there's two there's usually more.'

'It's calling to them, the others. I can't hear it but I can at the same time.' Rey admitted.

'Oh great, we're being stalked by mimes.' Buffy hissed. 'And I thought they were creepy enough already.'

'We need somewhere secure, somewhere we can hide until daybreak.' The Doctor said desperately.

'We better do something soon.' Rey announced feeling the statue's attention focused on her. 'They're coming.'

Buffy clicked her fingers. 'I know just the place. Come on.'

'Slowly. Rey don't take your eyes off that one, but don't look them in the face.'

'Or?' Buffy asked

'Or they crawl inside your mind and hollow you out from the inside.'

Buffy sighed. 'Definitely creepier than mimes.' Slowly the three of them backed away, Rey's eyes were almost burning from the need to blink. 'Right, where we're heading is just around the corner and it looks clear.'

'But?' The Doctor asked

'But it's just around the corner and out of sight. How fast are those things?'

'Very. When I count to three we run. Buffy take the lead, as you know where we're going. One, Two, Three.'

Rey spun and ran at full speed, she could barely see because her eyes were watering but she still ran. The feelings of hate and hunger still echoing off her.

Just ahead Buffy was waving them over to what looked like a stone hut. Suddenly the sense of hunger was replaced with satisfaction. Ray spun and almost fell backwards.

One of the angels was behind her, so close it was all but touching. It had changed. The face, gone was the almost beautiful features. Instead the smooth sculpt had been replaced with twisted, snarling lines and sharp teeth. The fingers claws reaching out for her.

'Don't let it touch you! If it touches you it will destroy you!' The Doctor shouted.

'I've got her.' Buffy said, Rey felt a hand on her shoulder and suddenly she was on her feet again. The girl was a lot stronger than she looked. 'You got them Doctor?' she asked and Rey saw the second angel just off to the side. It's face the same violent lines only a few steps behind.

'They're coming!' Rey shouted, more sure than ever.

'I know. Come on.' But Rey couldn't. She couldn't move she was so scared. The hunger was stronger than ever and she knew, as well as the monsters did, that there was nothing they could do. The angel as going to feed on her, swallow her up. It wanted to. It needed to and nothing could change that.

Rey was frozen and Buffy had noticed. The other girl, almost without trying picked her up and carried Rey to the stone hut. 'I think she looked them in the eye.' Buffy said.

'It's something else, help me with the doors.' The Doctor said urgently. 'We have to barricade them, quickly.'

Buffy almost dropped Rey and then, showing off her strength again picked up a huge slab of stone. Ramming it against the doors she wedged it in place.

Then the Doctor was there. 'I felt them, I felt them!' Rey gasped at him.

He gently put two fingers either side of her head. 'I know, that's my fault. Stupid old me never really understood this either.' he took a deep breath. 'Now you're clear, there's no angel in your head and for the moment we're safe. Sleep.'

'What?'

'Sleep' he ordered and she felt herself slip unconscious.

* * *

'Nice trick' Buffy said. 'So not a warlock, but you can still do that.'

'Time lord.' The alien said simply. 'Good work with the wedge. So what are you?'

She looked at him, being sure that he wasn't in reach. The last thing she needed was him knocking her out too. 'I'm the Vampire Slayer.'

'And that means?'

'On girl in all the world, born with the strength and skill to fight vampires and the forces of Darkness. I'm the chosen one.'

The Doctor looked at her strangely. 'Chosen. Chosen by who?'

Buffy shrugged, 'Does it matter?'

'Matter? Someone decides the best way to fight the Slave Race is to bestow superior strength to one human girl and you want to know if it matters.' he shrugged. 'Probably not. Now we have to hold those angels off until dawn and hope we can break out while we can see.'

'Does sunlight hurt them.'

'They're stone, so no. But we can see better. Theres nothing more dangerous trying to dodge angels in the dark.'

'So we just sit around here and hope come morning someone notices a bunch of statues in a graveyard?' Buffy asked, not sure she was hearing him right.

He turned on her. 'Have you got a better one?'

She didn't. 'So what happened to her. Did they get inside? I mean are they telepathic or something?'

The Doctor shook his head. 'No, at least they can't read your mind if that's what you mean. They're creatures of the abstract, born from conceptual space. Their power is in their image, thats how they get in through the eyes. Turing your only defence against them into another way to attack.'

'Great.' Buffy jumped up on the opposite tombstone. 'So what did happen to her?'

'It's to do with why we crashed.' he said softly, looking down at Rey. 'She's unique, or at least extraordinary rare. You see everything exists in a balance, nothing is separate and nothing is truly alone. It's all one whole you see. Every planet, every star, every moon and comet might seem alone but they are each a note. A note in the symphony. Rey can hear that symphony, even if she doesn't know it yet.'

Buffy didn't have a clue what he was talking about and said so.

'Everything exists in harmony, right. A tune. You and me, we're tone deaf. She can hear it. That's why she's extraordinary lucky, if you can call it that. The universe likes her. She also has good reactions. She can literally sense before they happen.'

'So she's got some way mystical connection to what… the song of the universe?' Buffy tired to reason that out.

'Yes. Because of that Rey here has powers. Abilities you might call magic. If she changes her tune just right the universe reacts back.'

Buffy frowned, thinking hard about what he was saying. 'So because she's connected to the Universe she can control it?'

'Exactly! That's what makes her a nexus, and that is why the Angels want her.'

Buffy jumped down. 'What you're saying then is that those things out there are here because of you? Her?'

'No, we crashed here because the Angels were already here. They came for you.' he said staring at her. 'One girl you said, your destiny. Your another one. Another nexus.'

'I can't change the entire universe!' Buffy protested.

'Of course you can. Anyone can. The right person at the right time and place can change the fate of all creation. Your strength and Rey's unique abilities just make it easier for the pair of you.' He told her.

She felt a chill, sure being the Slayer was important but given the amount of times Buffy had already saved the world she was beginning to think it wasn't a big deal. 'Hang on, why would that bring the angels here?'

'I told you, they're creatures of the abstract, they feed of potential. They throw you into the past, absorbing the energy of everything you were ever going to do.'

Again Buffy tried to reason this out. 'So, say I was to save the world tomorrow that would be a big thing. So that's a lot of this energy for them to feed on?'

'Exactly. It would also be bad because, of course, without you to save it the world would probably end.' he said. 'That's what being a nexus means. You are both key threads in the tapestry of time.'

He looked at her like she was an idiot. 'Don't worry, I get that. Tapestry of Time. All our lives are like threads interlocking and interacting. I might be blonde, but I'm not an idiot.'

'Compared to me, you are.'

'Well I'm not some alien time traveler from the future, but I have my moments.' She gave him a bright grin, teasing the grim faced old alien.

'I'm not from the future, I only work there.'

End Part II


	4. Part III:- Disturbance

Time Stands Still  
Part III  
Disturbance

Rey woke up and for a moment she panicked. She couldn't remember where she was or how she'd got there. Shaking the sleep from her head Rey stood up only for the Doctor to tackle her back down. 'What's going on?' she asked, only just realising that what she heard wasn't a sandstorm banging on the doors.

'It's a few hours before dawn and the Angels have figures out we're not moving.'

'The Angels.' She repeated, gripping her staff. Now she remembered. 'I can hear them, they're so hungry!'

'Shut them out, block them. Don't let them in.' The Doctor said urgently.

'I don't know how.' she admitted.

'What's happening?' Buffy asked. Rey looked up and saw her holding the slab of stone against the door.

'They're trying to invade her mind. Rey…'

She grabbed his hands and stopped him from touching her head. 'No! I don't know what you did, but I'm not going to sleep again! You're not doing that again.'

'I was just going to show you.' he didn't fight her and she let go. 'Empty your mind and think of a mirror. Not just a mirror, not the word. Think of what it looks like, what it feels like. It's cool, smooth surface. The way the light reflects off it. Build the idea a piece at a time. Put it between you and them. Barricade it the way Buffy is with that door. Throw every useless thought, every half forgotten day dream you've ever had against the back of that mirror and hold it there.'

Rey closed her eyes and concentrated, doing what The Doctor suggested. Building a mirror out of ideas. 'Is that really going to work?' Buffy asked from the door.

With a sudden jolt Rey realised that she couldn't hear them anymore. She had blocked them out. 'It already has.' She told them. 'How?'

'Basic telepathic defence. Turns their own strength against them. It gets easier with practice. Listen to me Rey every time you hear them whispering in your mind throw that idea at them. Keep them out.'

'Which we won't mean much if they burst through these doors instead!' Buffy pointed out from between clenched teeth. 'Help me with this!' Throwing her staff over her shoulder Rey scrambled over to another large stone and tried to lift it.

'I can't move it, it's too heavy.' she told them.

'Hold this one, I'll get it.' Buffy offered and they switched. Again Buffy showed that she was really strong, lifting the stone she smashed it against the ground, breaking it in two.

As Rey struggled Buffy wedged the two halves under each door 'Are you going to do anything?' she asked the Doctor, but he was fiddling in the shadows at the back of the tomb. With a high pitched whine, and a blue glow, the corner lit up and Rey saw he was pointing some device at a set of metal bars that were hidden in the darkness. 'What are those, gates?'

'You didn't think Buffy would lead us here without having a back door in case things got bad, did you?' he asked, pulling the bars free and running over to them.

Buffy gave her a knowing smile and Rey realised that, just like her, she knew every last back door and escape hatch of her home territory. The Doctor held the bars against the door hinges and waved his blue device over it. 'What is that thing?' the overly strong native asked.

'Looks like a portable welding tool.' Rey offered as the metal liquefied and melted into the gaps of the big doors.

'Sonic screwdriver.' He announced as he started on the second door. After a couple of minutes he'd finished and the doors were welded shut. 'That should hold them. For a little while.'

'Where's that lead?' Rey asked pointing to the only other exit.

'Sewers. You can get anywhere in town through there. There's just one thing I gotta know, how do we kill this things?'

'They're stone, you can't kill stone.' The Doctor told them seriously. 'Best we can hope for is to slow them down until we can get Rey out of here.'

'Why me?'

'Same reason we went out of control in the TARDIS, you're important. A lot more important than even you know.'

Rey pulled back. 'Important, me? I… I'm no one'

Buffy jumped up and looked at her seriously. 'No ones no one Rey. Everyone's important. Everyone.'

'But I'm just a scavenger. I live in a broken walker and I spend my days crawling over wreckage looking for scrap to sell for food. I'm not…'

'No one.' The Doctor interrupted her. 'Like you said you're a scavenger. You know how important the smallest governor circuit or micro-crystal is. Without the smallest parts, even the biggest machines won't work.'

'He's right, so what say we get to the library. If we know anything about these Angels, it will be there.' Buffy told them

'Library?' The Doctor asked.

* * *

Rupert Giles nodded politely to the caretaker as they headed for the storage room. While for the life of him he couldn't remember the man's name the two of them knew each others routine. Both of them had to be up before sunrise, but they made sure there was plenty of daylight before they got to the school.

While Giles knew just what went bump in the dark and armed himself accordingly he was no Slayer and a fight avoided was always better than risking his life. As he juggled briefcase, morning newspaper and the flask of tea he had brewed at home he heard the sounds of someone fighting coming from the library.

With a dexterous act he wouldn't believe himself capable of he shoved the paper and flask under one arm while reaching into his case for the collapsible crossbow he had in there. Half running he made it to his library. With a flick of his thumb the bow was ready to fire. It had a pathetic range and would probably just bounce off anything with armour thicker than a sheet of paper, but it was the best he had on him. Although he was going to have to figure out how to smuggle a fighting axe in there soon.

Jumping through the doors the crossbow caught on something and fired, poking a neat hole in his briefcase the bolt skittered across the floor and under a cabinet. He barely noticed as he was far more interested in the fight. He was expecting to see his Slayer in a fight for her life. Instead she was quite obviously sparing.

Even more astounding was that she seemed to be restraining herself. Delivering near textbook moves one after another. The girl, well young woman, she was trading blows against was using a completely unfamiliar style. One that would have been more suited against a sword, but was more than effective. Consisting of broad parries with the middle and short, sharp jabs from both ends. It meant keeping her centre, something that Buffy had noticed too.

His Slayer began an intricate series of moves, probably inspired of the top of her head, designed to force the other girl to pull back. The tighter in the staff got the less manoeuvrable you became. The other girl kept up, if only just, but Buffy's speed and preternatural skill gave her the edge. Pushing her opponent back into the wall. The Girl stumbled, losing her footing she slid to the floor. Buffy spun her staff high to come around for a killing blow, but stopped herself at the last moment. 'You're good.' Buffy told her.

'No I'm not.' the girl shook her head.

Buffy grinned and offered her a hand to get up. 'Really, bit more practice you'll be brilliant.'

'Nearly as good as you?' The girl teased

'Don't get any ideas.' Buffy laughed.

He looked at the two of them and took a moment to put down his ruined briefcase, flask and crumpled paper 'Buffy?'

'Giles!' She jumped. 'Hi, you're here. How long have you been here?'

'Long enough.' he told her sharply, reaching for his glasses. 'Mind telling me what you're doing in this early, and who your friend is?'

Buffy was obviously trying to put a positive spin on whatever she had to say. 'Well it's not early, so much as late. I've been out all night. Slaying, well sort of slaying. Mostly hiding.'

Giles took a whole second to glare at her before turing his attention pointedly to the girl. 'Giles this is Rey. Rey this is Giles.' Buffy introduced them quickly. 'He's the Librarian here and helps with the whole vampire slayer thing. Rey… urm Rey is here with her friend. The Doctor.' she looked around. 'Where'd he go?'

'I think I saw him go over there.' Rey pointed to the stacks only to have a book come flying out over them and bounce off the light fittings.

'Wrong. Wrong. Nonsense. didn't know what they were talking about.' An irate Scotsman dressed in a very expensive burgundy smoking jacket stopped out of the stacks with a pile of books. he was almost ranting. He held up another 'Mostly right, but the translation is all wrong.' The scotsman looked up. 'Ahh you must be Mr Giles.'

'That would be me, yes.' Giles admitted.

The strange man looked at him for a fraction of an instant. 'Should have know you'd be English.' With that he stomped off back into the stacks.

'Don't take it personally, I think he's always like that.' Rey apologised for him.

'What's wrong with this place?' The strange man re-appeared, only he walked out of Giles's office rather than the Stacks. There should have been no way anyone could get from the stacks to the office. Not that fast. Whoever this Doctor was he was clearly mystical.

'Wrong?' Buffy asked, obviously trying to hide her shock, but Giles could tell she'd noticed it too.

'Can't you feel it? This place, it's wrong. I can taste it, smell it. It's very wrong, Theres something here that should not be.' The Scottish accent made the words sound almost ominous.

'I feel cold, I mean a little cold.' Rey admitted looking around uncomfortably. 'It's getting worse the more I think about it.'

'Then don't think about it.' The Doctor told her.

'Is this to do with the whole "connected to the universe thing"?' Buffy asked, confusing Giles to no end. 'Because I thought you said you weren't.'

'Connected?' Ray asked.

'Yes, it's fairly simple, you have a deep, almost personal connection to space. That's why you're often lucky and why you have such fast reactions.'

'And why you were able to keep up with me.' Buffy told her. 'I guess'

'Oh, but you're not.' Rey asked her friend.

'No, I'm connected to Time. It's different but the same. Sort of.' He said and Giles realised that he'd heard the name Doctor before. 'So, Mr Giles, what is it that both Rey and myself can feel is wrong?'

Buffy looked at the pair of them. 'What do you think, the Hellmouth?'

'Hellmouth?' The Doctor said darkly.

It took Giles moment to collect his thoughts 'Ah… Well it's hard to explain. There is a mystical convergence in the town. A dimensional nexus, literally a mouth of hell.'

The Doctor took a very deliberate step forward. 'Where?'

'Right there.' Giles pointed to the middle of the room.

There was a long silence where the Doctor had his eyes closed. 'So you ape-brained primitives found a dimensional nexus. A rip in space and time where other realities can bleed into this one and your first instinct is to build a high school library on it?'

'Not us exactly.' Buffy suppled. 'We just go to school here.'

The Doctor's eyes snapped open.

* * *

'So what do you think they are?' Xander asked his best friend.

Willow shrugged. 'Performance art piece?'

'A what?'

The two of them strolled down the corridor, dodging Principle Snyder as he left an almost visible cloud of grumpiness behind him. 'You know, get bunch of people to dress up and look weird for art.' She said as he passed them.

'In Sunnydale?' he asked

'What else? A mime school day trip?' she joked

Xander shuddered. 'Ugh, mimes.'

'Xander! they're not clowns.'

'No they're worse, and this is the hellmouth.' He pointed out. 'They could be demon mimes for all we know.'

She gave him a look that spoke volumes. 'We've both got a free period, so library? We can ask Giles and he can tell you there's no such thing as demon mimes.'

'And if there is?'

'Buffy will just have to slay them'

The library was just around the corner and it didn't take long to get there, but inside was something they didn't expect. A strange man was walking back and forth speaking in what sounded like a dozen different languages at once. Even if they couldn't speak them Xander and Willow could tell the words were anything but nice. 'What's going on?' Willow asked.

'I think the Doctor is still giving a lecture on human stupidity. He ran out of english awhile ago. Morning guys.' Buffy waved. She was siting on the counter watching the show.

The man turned to the table in the middle of the room and yelled something that sounded like he was gargling marbles through a hosepipe. 'Doctor?' Xander asked as he began speaking again, is time in what sounded like backwards Klingon.

'That's his name.' Buffy explained. 'And this is Rey. We met last night while I was out patrolling. They're aliens.' Rey was sat at the bottom of the steps, she was a pretty woman in some sort of weird robe like thing. There was a long black staff propped up next to her and she was busy reading a book.

'They're what?' Willow blinked at this.

'Aliens.' Buffy smiled and tried to explain. 'Rey is human, but not from earth. And the Doctor… isn't.' she admitted.

'I'm a Time Lord.' he broke off his rant.

'Finished?' the Slayer asked

The Doctor took a deep breath and seemed to deflate. 'For now, I might think of something else to say later.'

'Well these are my friends Willow and Xander, and now you've met pretty much everyone.'

'Where's Giles?'

Rey looked up. 'I saw him go into the little room over there.' She pointed at the office, for an alien she sounded very English. 'Hello.'

'Hi.' Xander smiled. 'So you're really an alien? How's that work.'

'Humans are everywhere. One day I'll figure out just why.' The Doctor told them.

'Cool!' Xander grinned, not quite sure what to think about that.

Willow jumped in. 'Well not as cool as aliens, but we saw something weird coming in this morning. There's like a dozen cool looking statues of angels outside.'

Buffy jumped of the counter with a thud 'Stone Angels?' she asked in a voice she usually used for an apocalypse as the book slipped from Rey's fingers.

'They followed us!' Rey whispered.

'The statue guys? I told you there was such a thing as demon mimes!' Xander half shouted.

The Doctor shook his head. 'They're not demons. At least not quite. Think demonic aliens from your worst nightmares.'

'They're stone. How bad can they be?'

'Bad.' Buffy disagreed. 'How did they follow us. I thought Rey was blocking them?'

'She is. They didn't follow. They were already heading here.' The Doctor said darkly. 'The Weeping Angels feed of potential energy, imagine the potential for disaster in a Hellmouth.'

Xander was trying to follow. 'Wait, these things can feed off the hellmouth?'

'With this much energy they could spawn an army, big enough to march across the universe. Silent, deadly, unstoppable. Fracturing existence itself.' He told them and Xander felt a chill.

Buffy crossed the room to the book caged and went straight for the weapons cabinet. 'Silent, yep. Deadly, sure. But unstoppable?' From the collection she pulled out the sledge hammer she'd used against the Master. 'I might have something to say about that.'

End Part III


End file.
